Indicating means for railway signaling systems



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Jam, M, 193% c. s. BUSHNELL INDICATING MEANS FOR RAILWAY SIGNALING SYSTEMS Filed May 26, 1932 GZEZEWUMMQU ZMIE L: DMXUK.

42 ATTORNEY traflic movements. The control office'in such Patented Jan. 14, 1936 PATENT oFFl-CE;

INDICATING MEANS FOR, R ILWAI SIGNALING srsrsns,

Charles S. Bushnell, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to General Railway Signal Companmfloches'ter,

ApplicationMay. 26, 1932,. SerlalNo $9,675

13 Claims.

This invention relates to signaling systems and more particularly to a signaling systemfor au' dibly indicating the occurrence of certain conditions in a railway centralized traffic control system;

In railway centralized traffic controlling systems, it is desirable to audibly indicate at the central point, or control office, the entrance of trains into certain track sections, so that the operator may more efiiciently plan the various systems has a number of electro-responsive devices each of which is positioned in accordance with theoccupancy of an associated track section and consequently considerable apparatus is required when individual means is employed to respond to a change in the condition ofeach of the electro-responsive devices. In view of the above and other considerations,

it is proposed in accordance with the present in-' vention to provide a simple means for audibly indicating by a single electro-responsive indic'atingme-ans the occurrence of each particular change in a plurality of electro-responsive devices, and it is further proposed to give each such indication by a single audible signal, such as a stroke of a bell, and to resensitize' such indicating means for the next successive indication.

Other objects, purposes and characteristic features of the present invention will become apparent as the description thereof progresses, during which reference will be made to the accompanying single figure of drawing which diagrammatically shows a typical system arranged in accordance with the present invention.

The present annunciating system is herein shown and described as applied to a selective type of railway centralized traffic controlling system of such a type as is shown for instance in the application of N. D. Preston, et al., Ser. No. 455,304, filed May 24, 1930, corresponding to Australian Patent 1501 of 1931. The operation of this system may be clearly understood by referring to the above patent, but the particular functions of the system with which this invention is concerned may be briefly stated by saying that whenever a change occurs in the occupied or.

the unoccupied'condition of any one of a number oftrack sections, that particular track section or associated station is registered at the control ofiice by transmittinga particular combination of impulses. This registration is accomplished byvenergizing an associatedone of the relays C C2, or C? shown in the accompanying ,drawe ing, whichrelays correspond to similarly, identifiedrelays in theabovefmentioned patent. Alter the particular track section has been thus registered the character of a particular renew ing impulse allotted thereto indicates what the particular change in the condition has been, or that is, whether the track sectionhas become occupied or unoccupied.

The relay M in' the accompanying drawing which corresponds to a'. relay in the above mentioned patent havingv reference character 'M is positioned in accordance withthecharacter of the incoming signal whichjaspreviou'sly' mentioned, indicates the condition of'thetrack circuit. Each of the above 'mentionedl'track circuits which are detected at the control ofiice has an indication storing relay associatedtherewith which relays are shown as IN 1N and IN, and for the present purposes, it may be considered that these relays are positioned in accordance with the position of the relay M when they are individually selected by the associated registering relay C C or C The relays IN, IN, and IN are shownas being of the two-position magnetic stick type which is fully described in the prior application of'W. D. Hailes et al., Ser'. No. 499,909, filed December 4, 1930, and it may be statedfthat these relays are arrangedto magnetically retain their armatures in theirfllastoperated position until the application of a different. polarity of energy. A bell ringing relay BR is norrr'ially energized through series contacts on the IN or magnetic stick type relays which contacts are arranged so that when a change occurs in the operated position of any one of these relays the polarity of energization of the relay BR is changed.-

\ l n The'circuit energizing the relay BR with the. contacts of the IN relays in the positions shown in the accompanying drawing niay be traced as follows: from"(+'), back'contactl of relay 1N wire 5, back contact 6 of relay 1N wire [back-i contact8 of relay 1N wire 9 through the operating winding of the relay BR, wire [0,, back contact ll of relay 1N wirel2, back' contact l3'of, relay 1N wire l4, backl contact l5,of relayIN to In this circuit, it will be noticed that the polarity imposed on the relay BB is .fsucli that positive energyis placed on the wire 9, or the system is initiated, during the first part of which cycle a particular one of the relays C C or C is energized, and on a following impulse, the relay M is deenergized which is then effective to pick up the particular IN relay associated with the selected C relay. Assuming for example that the relay 1N has become energized by this operating cycle, it may be seen that a different energizing circuit is then set up for the relay BR,

which may be traced as follows:from

front contact l5 of relay 1N wire l4, back contact l3 of relay 1N wire I2, back contact ll of relay 1N wire 16, through the operating windings of the relay BR, wire 9, back contact 8 of relay 1N wire 1, back contact 6 of relay IN, wire 5, front contact 4 of relay 1N wire IE to In this last energizing circuit for the relay BR, it may be seen that the polarity of energy on the operating windings of the relays has been reversed, or that is, positive energy is now placed on the wire E0, or the right hand side of the relay, and negative energy on the wire 9, or left hand side, which is the reverse of that described in connection with the first energizing circuit.

Thus, the relays 1N 1N and IN having pole changing contacts, arranged in series in the energizing circuit for the relay BR, it will be evident that any change in the position of their contacts will be effective to reverse the polarity on the bell ringing relay BR. However, it will be evident that if certain ones of the relays IN change their position at the same time the polarity on the relay BR will not be reversed, but in a selective type of centralized trafiic controlling system, a. change in condition of these IN relays cannot occur simultaneously.

It is obvious that both of the aforesaid polarities will pick up the armature of the neutral relay BR, but in changing from one to another, the value of the magnetic attraction of the armature passes through a negligible value or practically zero, thus effecting a dropping and a picking up of the armature. In the condition just assumed or with the train entering a track section which was unoccupied, the relay M is in a corresponding position or is de-energized, and during such a condition, a circuit is made up to energize the bell magnet B at the time when the armature of the relay BR is dropped, and this circuit is considered to be obvious from the drawing without tracing it in detail. This energization of the bell magnet B is interrupted by the picking up of the relay BR, but its energization lasted long enough to give a single stroke or signal on the bell.

It will now be obvious that, if the previously considered track section becomes unoccupied, a reverse polarity is applied to the relay IN by the energization of the relay M. The armature of the relay 1N then drops, thus shifting the energization of the relay BR back to its original polarity which effects a momentary dropping of the armature of the relay BR. However in this case, the associated track section is unoccupied causing the relay M to be energized, which prevents a stroke of the bell because its energizing circuit is opened at the back contact ll of relay M. Now, keeping in mind that only one of the relays IN, IN or IN can be changed at a particular time, it will be evident that any change of condition of a track section in the system will momentarily drop the relay BR, but a signal will only be given by the bell when such a change is from an unoccupied to an occupied condition.

An audible signal system has thus been provided in which a single control means is respon sive to a change in condition of any one of a plurality of indicating relays, but it further provides that an audible signal is only given when the aforesaid changeis of a certain distinctive nature. The present system further provides a signal control means which is operable to give only a momentary signal and then becomes sensitive to a succeeding change.

' The above rather specific description of one form of the present invention is given solely by the way of example, and is not intended in any manner whatsoever in a limiting sense. It is also to be understood that various modifications, adaptations and alterations may be applied to meet the requirements of practice without in any manner departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention, except as limited by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:-

1. A signaling system for indicating a change in condition of any one of a plurality of indication relays, comprising a control relay, polechanging contacts operated by each of said indication relays, an energizing circuit for said control relay including said pole-changing contacts in series whereby the control relay momentarily assumes a de-energized position whenever any one of the indication relays is operated to a new position because of the reversal of current in the circuit and signaling means controlled by said control relay.

2. In a signaling system for railway trafiic controlling systems, a plurality of indication relays each positioned in accordance with the occupied or unoccupied condition of an associated track section, pole-changing contacts on each of the indicating relays, a control relay, an energizing circuit for said control relay including said polechanging contacts in series whereby the polarity of the current in said control relay is reversed by a change in the operated position of any one 01 the indicating relays, and signaling means at times indicating an operation of the control relay to a deenergized position.

3. In a signaling system for railway traffic controlling systems, a plurality of indication relays each positioned in accordance with the occupied or unoccupied condition of an associated track section, pole-changing contacts on each of the indication relays, a control relay, an energizing circuit for said control relay including said polechanging contacts in series whereby the polarity oi the current in said control relay is reversed by a change in the operated position of any one of the indication relays, a signaling means, and a control circuit operable to energize said signaling means when the control relay is de-energized providing a change in the operated condition of one of the indication relays has been effected by a change from an unoccupied to an occupied condition of its associated track section.

4. In an audible signaling system for railway centralized traffic controlling systems, a plurality of indicating relays associated with various track sections, a remote controlled message relay arranged to selectively position said indicating relays according to the occupied or unoccupied condition of the associated track section, a control relay, an energizing circuit for said control relay including contacts on each of the indicating relays effective to reverse the direction of current flow in the energizing circuit whenever a change occurs in the operated position of any indicating relay whereby the armature of the control relay is momentarily dropped, and an audible signaling means operable by the de-energization of the control relay only when said message relay is conditioned to correspond to an occupied track circuit condition.

5. In combination, a plurality of indication relays only One of which may be operated at any one time, pole changing contacts on each of said plurality of indication relays, a control relay, an energizing circuit for said control relay reversibly governed by said pole changing contacts, and signal means governed by said control relay.

6. In combination, a plurality of indication relays only one of which may be operated at any one time, pole changing contacts on each of said plurality of indication relays, a control relay, a normally closed energizing circuit for said control relay reversibly governed by said pole changing contacts connected in series, whereby said control relay is momentarily operated to a released position each time an indication relay is operated, and signaling means controlled by said control relay.

7. In combination, a plurality of indication relays each having pole changing contacts, means governing the operation of said indication relays so that only one can be operated at a time, a control relay, a normally closed energizing circuit for said control relay reversibly governed by said pole changing contacts connected in series, whereby said control relay is momentarily operated to a released position each time an indication relay is operated, and signaling means controlled by said control relay.

8. In a signaling system for railway traffic controlling systems, a plurality of indication relays each positioned in accordance with the condition of an associated traffic device and such positioning occurring for only one indication relay at a time, pole changing contacts on each of said indication relays, a control relay, an energizing circuit for said control relay including said pole changing contacts in series whereby the polarity of the current in said control relay is reversed by the change in the operated position of any one of said indication relays, a signal means, and a control circuit operable to energize said signal means when the control relay is released.

9. In a signaling system for railway trafiic controlling systems, a plurality of indication relays each provided with pole changing contacts operable to either of two positions, means for successively positioning each of said indication relays in accordance with one of two conditions of an associated trafiic device, a control relay, an energizing circuit for said control relay including said pole changing contacts in series whereby the polarity of the current in said control relay is reversed by a change in the operated position of any one of the indication relays, and whereby the reversal of current in the energizing circuit causes said control relay to be momentarily operated to a released position, and a signal governed by said control relay. 5

10. In a signaling system for railway traflic controlling systems; a plurality'of indication relays each provided with pole changing contacts operable to either of two positions; means for successively positioning each of said indication in relays in accordance with one of two conditions in an associated traific device; a control relay; an energizing circuit for said control relay including said pole changing contacts in series, whereby the polarity of the current in said con- 15 trol relay is reversed by a change in the operated position of any one of the indication relays, and whereby the reversal of current in the energizing circuit causes said control relay to be momentarily operated to a released position; an electroresponsive means; and a control circuit for said electro-responsive means energized each time said control relay is released only it the change in the indication relay from one of its positions to the other to cause the momentary release of 2 said control relay is of a predetermined order.

11. A signaling system for indicating a change in condition of any one of a plurality of devices, comprising a control relay, pole changing contacts operated by each of said devices, an energizing circuit for said control relay including said pole changing contacts in series whereby the direction of current flow in, the circuit may be reversed, a signal, means responsive to the reversal of current flow in said circuit for deenergizing 35 and energizing said control relay, and means responsive to the deenergization of said control relay for energizing said signal.

12. A signaling system for indicating the nature of two distinctive changes in the condition to of any one of a plurality of devices, comprising a control relay, pole changing contacts operated by each of said devices, an energizing circuit for said control relay including said pole changing contacts in series whereby the direction of current flow in the circuit may be reversed, and. signaling means operable by said control relay in response to a change of distinctive nature of each of said devices.

13. A signaling system for distinctively indieating the nature of one of two distinctive changes in the condition of any one of a plurality of devices, comprising a control relay, pole changing contacts operated by each of said devices, an energizing circuit for said control relay including said pole changing contacts in series whereby the direction of current flow in the circuit may be reversed, and signaling means operable by said control relay in response to said one distinctive change of each of said devices.

CHARLES S. BUSHNELL.

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